Free IELTS practice tests: READING
ACADEMIC READING
The Academic Reading test is 60 minutes long.
Test Parts:
There are 3 sections. The total text length is 2,150-2,750 words.
Each section contains one long text.
Texts are authentic and are taken from books, journals, magazines and newspapers. They have been written for a non-specialist audience and are on academic topics of general interest.
Texts are appropriate to, and accessible to, test-takers entering undergraduate or postgraduate courses, or seeking professional registration.
Texts range from descriptive and factual to the discursive and analytical.
Texts may contain non-verbal materials, such as diagrams, graphs or illustrations.
If texts contain technical terms, a simple glossary is provided.
Question types
A variety of questions is used, chosen from the following types: multiple choice, identifying information, identifying writer’s views/claims, matching information, matching headings, matching features, matching sentence endings, sentence completion, summary completion, note completion, table completion, flow-chart completion, diagram label completion, short-answer questions.
Marking
Each correct answer receives 1 mark. Scores out of 40 are converted to the IELTS 9-band scale. Scores are reported in whole and half bands.
IELTS Academic Reading sample tasks
IELTS Reading Answer Sheet
Identifying writer’s views
Matching features
Table completion
Flow-chart completion (selecting words from text) – Task
Flow-chart completion (selecting words from text) – Answers
Identifying information (true/false/not given) – Task
Identifying information (true/false/not given) – Answers
Matching headings – Task
Matching headings – Answers
Multiple choice (more than one answer) – Task
Multiple choice (more than one answer) – Answers
Multiple choice (one answer) – Task
Multiple choice (one answer) – Answers
Summary completion (selecting from a list of words or phrases) – Task
Summary completion (selecting from a list of words or phrases) – Answers
Summary completion (selecting words from the text) – Task
Summary completion (selecting words from the text) – Answers
GENERAL TRAINING READING
The General Training Reading test is 60 minutes long.
There are 3 sections.
Section 1 contains two or three short factual texts, one of which may be a composite (consisting of 6-8 short texts related by topic, eg. hotel advertisements). Topics are relevant to everyday life in an English-speaking country.
Section 2 contains two short factual texts focusing on work-related issues (eg. applying for jobs, company policies, pay and conditions)
Section 3 contains one longer, more complex text on a topic of general interest
Texts are authentic and are taken from notices, advertisements, company handbooks, books, magazines and newspapers.
Question types
A variety of questions are used, chosen from the following types; multiple choice, identifying information, identifying writer’s views/claims, matching information, matching headings, matching features, matching sentence endings, sentence completion, summary completion, note completion, table completion, flow-chart completion, diagram label completion, short-answer questions.
Marking
Each correct answer receives 1 mark. Scores out of 40 are converted to the IELTS 9-band scale. Scores are reported in whole and half bands.
